construction and adornment of the tabernacle and the temple. The great
treasure house of earth was then opened, until gold became common as
brass, and precious stones numerous almost as the pebbles of the brook,
and the riches of the earth were eternally consecrated to the service of
God.

And in the present century, and within our own recollection, when the
world's business seemed to be stagnated--when the sails of commerce
flapped idly at the masts--when the great highways of trade and traffic
were in danger of being deserted, and the coffers of the nation were
almost exhausted, the hand of Providence unlocked the treasures of
California and Australia, and every department of business has become
prosperous, and every branch of industry has received a new impetus. A
new lesson has been taught the world: that God's treasures are
inexhaustible, and that his hand can never be shortened.

And now here, in this remote county of Western Pennsylvania, God's
treasure has been concealed for ages--locked up in the very heart of the
eternal rock, awaiting the time of need, and accomplishment of the
eternal purposes of Omnipotence. It has oozed forth in limited
quantities during the lapse of centuries, as though to show us now that
man cannot lay his hand upon the houses of God's treasure until his own
appointed time.

We know not where the great Chemist has his laboratory, or where he
formed the mighty retorts that are distilling for us the oily treasure:
most probably they were fashioned when the earth assumed its present
form; and since 'the morning stars' sang creation's hymn together, deep
down amid earth's rocky caverns, through the revolving centuries, the
stores have been accumulating that are destined to bless the world and